Any person reading a translation of the Arabic Qur’an line by line for the
first time is bound to be perplexed if he/she is a believing Muslim and simply
bewildered and alienated if he is Qur’an-sceptic Muslim or a non-Muslim. He can
neither connect one verse or passage with the next, nor can he find any beauty,
coherence and subtlety in its diction. Stark ignorant of the subtlety and
nuances of the Qur’anic Arabic, and confronted by literal translation of its
idioms and poetical and eschatological imageries, he is angered and frustrated.
With no background knowledge of the Qur’an’s historical and Biblical allusions,
he is completely at a loss to make any head or tail of what comes under his
eyes. With turning of each page he confronts, often in the midst of disjointed
and abstruse themes, divine threats and altruistic commandments, both of which
he loathes to swallow. Who wants to be told that his wealth is not entirely his
own (4:32), or to spend for the needy at every opportunity (2:274), or to write
off debt to a poor debtor (2:278), or not to expect any return for a favour
bestowed (74:6), or to shun greed, arrogance, back biting and other temptations
and cravings of mind? He soon gives up.

Friday, July 20, 2012

I DON'T do quagmires”, Donald Rumsfeld had once declared rather grandly. He didn’t believe in exit strategies either. Yet, eight years later with casualties rising to a little more than one death a day in Afghanistan and expenses crossing US $ 450 billion, in December 2009 President Obama, referred to July 2011 as the date by which the US would begin to pull out of Afghanistan . This state has been the result of a policy that presumed that military supremacy was an unqualified good born of American superiority. Great though the power of the American military machine might have been, it was not great enough to solve problems such as global terrorism of the al Qaeda variety. America needed help of friends, demonised its own supporters like President Karzai, it chose other friends wrongly and declined others’ advice. Consequently, it ended fighting the wrong war at the wrong place with wrong tactics.

The declared US objective has been to take out Al Qaeda from Afghanistan so that they do not become a threat to the US and its allies. Yet the Al Qaeda is not in Afghanistan; it is mostly in Pakistan with sanctuaries in Yemen and Afghanistan. It is the Taliban that is mostly in Afghanistan with sanctuaries in Pakistan, so the result is that the US has been fighting an obscurantist section of an ethnic component of Afghanistan whose objective has been to throw the foreigner out and seems to be succeeding. The Taliban now represent, by and large, the Pushtun sentiment in Afghanistan and they are spreading into Kunduz in the north as well. It is possible now that the US will re- evaluate its policy towards Pakistan following the killing of seven CIA operatives inside the CIA camp in Khost; an attack that originated with the Pakistan Taliban. This act highlighted not only the dangers of counter terror operations but also that the level of commitment in the opposition to the US was very high. The US now wants to achieve something in eighteen months what has not been possible in eight years.

Diversity and tolerance are considered very basis of modernity as one of the modernity’s fundamental principles is individual and community rights and also, as modernity implies democratic rule, tolerance and right to pursue any ideology or religion assumes great importance. The western countries consider themselves as role models for democracy and freedom. Mr. Bush, after 9/11 attack often used to say why (read Muslims) are jealous of our democracy and freedom?

Most of us believe in this myth that west stands for freedom of conscience, democracy and liberty. And in theory it is quite correct. But is it is in practice? First of all let us ask one question did they ever consider non-whites, non-Europeans as equal and entitled to equality and liberty? The history tells us no. The white superiority was always underlying assumption and the blacks (now known as African-American) were always discriminated against. Even Jews, until Second World War, did not enjoy equal rights. They were always discriminated against and forced to live in ghettoes, apart from what Nazis did with them.

Also, until Second World War when the Western world was mono-religious and mono-cultural its tolerance for non-western religions and cultures was never tested. It is only when economic migrations began from the erstwhile colonial countries that west began to experience what they now call multi-culturalism and western society became multi-religious and multi-cultural.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

JAIPUR: Habib Hussain of Moradabad, who hid in a toilet on an Air India flight from Saudi Arabia to return to his own country, says he did so for

his two children, his pregnant wife, and an ailing mother. After his bizarre experience, Habib says he has realised that `aadhi roti' (half a piece of bread) at home is better than one in an alien land. He also said Indian labour is sold like cattle in that country.

He had sold his two `bigha' land for Rs 1.25 lakh and left behind just about Rs 11,000 for his family after paying the agent. He now tearfully says, ``There was no point in staying in Saudi. I just had to return. My wife was two months pregnant when I left and will have a baby any time now. My family was hungry here; I was hungry there. I was better off earning Rs 80 a day and feeding my family rather than living on a promise of Rs 15,000-20,000 and not getting a paisa.

``I know there could have been serious problems during the flight, but I had confidence in my countrymen. Moreover, I was ready to face any consequence in India which would have been better than living in Saudi Arabia,'' he says.

``After grazing goats until noon, I offered namaz. In the evening, after helping a Haji with his bags, I slipped into a toilet in the lower deck of the aircraft. Forty-five minutes after the plane took off, an air hostess saw me. After she heard my story, she gave me a seat and food,'' said Habib.

All that Habib got to eat in the six months that he was away was one roti and a bowl of dal worth Re 1 each day - bought from the money that the Hajis tipped him with. ``I didn't get a penny from my employer and started saving whatever I could to get back to my country. I could manage to save Rs 800 and thought if my passport was returned to me, I could board a flight to India. But whenever we asked for our passports, we were kicked and thrashed and made to work for over 14 to 18 hours a day,'' he said.

``Indian labour is sold in Saudi like cattle and thousands of Indians from UP and Bengal are suffering there. They are helpless without their passports,'' said Habib. ``My agent (Imran) got an assignment to provide 50 labourers from India. We were recruited and sent in groups of five, 10 and 20. After landing, I was made to work in Jeddah for a month. I grazed goats during the day and worked as a cleaner at the airport in the evenings. I worked for 14-18 hours a day. Thereafter, I was sold to a `khafil' or agent in Medina who required 500 people. In Medina, I worked for over 15 hours daily. I wept and wondered how my family was doing back home,'' he said.

Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo’s role in the politics of Pakistan had many noticeable and unique characteristics. He will always be remembered for his principled stands and pragmatic approach in politics. Coming from a remote village of Baluchistan, he rose to the respectable position of an elderly statesman of Pakistan’s politics. Mir Sahab, that is how he was addressed by both his fellow politicians and the political rank and file of the parties he led or remained associated with in his long political career, had been a member of National Assembly, and, for about nine or ten months, the Governor of Baluchistan. He had also been an important leader of the National Awami Party (NAP), National Democratic Party (NDP), and later, the founder-president of Pakistan National party (PNP). But, the offices held were not as important as the perception and vision for which he was known and which he tried to inculcate in Pakistan's otherwise directionless politics. Mir Sahab was a man of conviction who could see beyond the confines of his times and immediate surroundings. He can very rightly be described as one of the very few political leaders of the twentieth century Indian subcontinent, who firmly adhered to the principle of human equality, social justice and peace throughout their political career. While being a firm believer in the right of self-determination of all nations subjugated by colonialist and imperialist forces, he never succumbed to the negativity of racism or national chauvinism. He was equally critical of all forms of exploitation and discrimination perpetrated upon the working class and weaker section of the society by the elites of the nation struggling for emancipation from the colonial domination. Despite the fact that he hailed from a very backward and tribal society, Mir Sahab had developed an astonishingly progressive outlook on all social, economic and cultural issues. He was, undoubtedly, a Humanist par excellence.

Aceh’s Morality Police (Wilayahtul Hisbah) have taken to hauling up women for wearing tight trousers. In one district, they plan to make women hand over their tight trousers and cut the offending attire up on the spot.

CLAD in dark jeans, a long-sleeved top and headscarf, Henny is exasperated.

“Why is it that it is always the woman’s body that is subject to this or that regulation? It’s a pity our freedom on how to dress is being taken away from us.

“And what about the men? What regulations do they have to shield their eyes?” she adds pointedly.

Henny who works at Beujroh, a woman’s NGO, believes that the focus on personal matters like a woman’s style of dressing is actually to take attention away from urgent issues like corruption.

Most would agree that Henny, who is covered from head to toe with only her face, hands and feet exposed, is dressed in proper attire for a Muslim woman.

But not, apparently, for the Wilayahtul Hisbah or “WH” (pronounced “wee ha”) – in short, the Acehnese Morality Police.

For them, Henny’s jeans – or for that matter any jeans for women – is a no-no. Jeans, they say, are “men’s clothing”.

So women in Aceh should only wear trousers made of non-jeans material and these have to be loose and not made of thin fabric.

Those wearing fitting trousers or tight tops can expect to be hauled up and scolded by the Morality Police.

In Meulaboh, West Aceh, it goes a step further.

From Jan 1, women caught wearing fitting trousers will be given long skirts (for free) by these Morality Squads and the “offending” trousers will be cut to pieces.

Had he not proven incompetent to detonate his lap bomb, Umar Farouk Abdulmullatab would have carried off an air massacre to rival Lockerbie. We would all have ended Christmas day watching TV footage of 300 mangled bodies being picked up around Detroit.

The system breakdown was total. His father had reported to the U.S. embassy that Umar had gone extremist, disowned his family and vanished in Yemen. Though the 23-year-old Nigerian had been put on a U.S. terrorist watch list and denied a visa to enter Britain, his U.S. visa was not revoked.

Though he had been in Yemen for months, bought his plane ticket in cash and boarded without luggage, he was neither red-flagged nor screened or body-searched.

We were spared the horrible consequences of our incompetence, only because of his incompetence. The episode raises questions not only about airline security, but about how we are fighting the real war we are in.

Defeating al-Qaida calls for ways and means different from dealing with domestic crime families like the Gottis or Gambinos.

Organized crime is the province of police and prosecutors.

Crime bosses are read their rights and granted access to a lawyer. They come into court in suits to undergo a fair and equal contest to ascertain guilt or innocence. If acquitted, they walk free.

‘Of course, they will kill me,’ one of the subcontinent’s most-influential Muslim leaders told me the other day. “But first they will flog me.” He was speaking of what would await persons like him if violent extremists took over. But the need to survive is compelling many in Pakistan to fight the jihadists.

The stupid talk of an Indian hand behind suicide attacks is not the real story from Pakistan. That Pakistanis as a society are quietly redrawing their list of friends and enemies.

Violent extremists disgracing Pakistan and Islam are now seen as the nation’s enemy number one as well as danger number one. Certainly the United States is not liked, and there is resentment at the pressure on Pakistanis to do more. Pakistanis think that the US and India should understand what Dawn recently called “the limitations of a sub-optimal state fighting a hydra-headed enemy”.

But the violent extremists who blast women, children and the elderly into body pieces that land in mosques and bazaars have firmly displaced the US from its position as the entity Pakistanis most detest.

This national sentiment — plain to anyone observing the Pakistani scene — is shared across political, sectarian and provincial divides, across the civilian/military divide, and by rich and poor alike. No stance adopted by the US or India attracts the level of popular revulsion that Pakistan’s violent jihadists have invited on their heads.

In an effort to crackdown on immoral behavior, scores of officers targeted low budget hotels in central Selangor state before dawn on Januray 1, knocking on doors and arresting any unmarried Muslim couples who were sharing rooms, said Hidayat Abdul Rani, a spokesman for the Selangor Islamic Department.

Most of the detained were students and young factor workers. They are expected to be charged with "khalwat," or "close proximity," which is described as couples who are not married to each other being alone in a private place, according to Malaysia's Islamic Shariah law.

"We choose to have this large-scale operation on New Year's Day because many people are known to commit this offense while celebrating such a major holiday," Hidyat said.

The law only applies to Malaysia's Muslims, who make-up nearly two-thirds of the population. It excludes any Christian, Buddhist, and Hindu minorities.

Breaking the Shariah law can carry a maximum penalty of two years in a prison and a fine.

Nidal Hasan was causing a ruckus in his one-bedroom apartment during the early hours of Nov. 5, banging against the thin walls long after midnight, packing boxes and shredding papers until he woke up the tenants next door.

Maybe that was a clue.

He picked up the phone at 2:37 a.m. and dialed a neighbor. Nobody answered. Hasan called again three hours later, this time leaving a message. "Nice knowing you, friend," he said. "I'm moving on from here."

Maybe that was a clue, too.

He left Apartment 9 early that morning and stopped next door to see a woman named Patricia Villa, whom he had known for less than a month. He gave her a bag of frozen vegetables, some broccoli, a clothing steamer and an air mattress, explaining that he was about to be deployed to a war zone. Then Hasan visited another neighbor, a devout Christian, who looked at him quizzically when he handed her a copy of the Koran and recommended passages for her to read. "In my religion," Hasan told her, "we'll do anything to be closer to God."

Just before the break of dawn in Killeen, Tex., Hasan drove away from the Casa Del Norte apartment complex and stopped for his customary breakfast at a nearby 7-Eleven. The store's owner, wary of him, had spent the past month pretending to be absent whenever Hasan entered. This time, Hasan approached the counter with coffee and hash browns at 6:22 a.m., wearing an Arab robe and a white kufi cap. Before fiddling in his pockets for change, buying his breakfast and driving away to work at Fort Hood, he smiled at another customer and issued what sounded like a warning.

Socio-Cultural Impediments to Indian Muslim Women’s Struggles for Gender Justice

By Yoginder Sikand

Sunday, January 03, 2010

The numerous struggles of Indian women for gender justice have been well-documented by academics and scholar-activists. Several Indian women can be counted among key present-day feminist theoreticians, whose works are widely known and acknowledged internationally. Yet, broadly speaking, the women’s movement in India, as in several other ‘developing’; countries, remains, to a large extent, elitist. Almost all of its articulate spokeswomen are highly-educated ‘high’ caste Hindus, who form only a relatively small proportion of the Indian population.

This relatively elitist nature of India’s women’s movement explains, to a great extent, why women from the country’s most deprived and marginalized communities, particularly the Dalits or so-called ‘Untouchables’, the Adivasis or Tribal, indigenous people, and Muslims, have been largely left out of its purview, and are hardly to be found in its leadership positions. On the whole, and barring a few exceptions, ‘high’ caste Hindu women’s activists have evinced little or no interest in the particular concerns of women from these communities. There is no doubt that deeply-ingrained, and often unacknowledged, prejudice against these communities is a major reason for this. With regard to Muslim women, widespread anti-Muslim prejudice prevalent in the wider Indian society must be counted as one of the major factors for the perceived general lack of interest on the part of ‘secular’ women’s groups in Muslim women’s issues and problems. To add to this is the fear that taking up Muslim women’s concerns might invite the opposition of conservative ulema or Muslim clerics and stoke inter-communal controversy. This sidelining by ‘secular’ women’s groups of Muslim women’s concerns has been compounded by the tendency, boosted by the state, conservative Muslim leaders and the Hindu Right, to perceive Muslims solely in religious terms. Because of this, often ‘secular’ women’s groups interventions with regard to Muslim women focus simply on issues related to their religious identity (especially, certain aspects of Muslim Personal Law that are seen to militate against women), rather than on their manifold social, economic, and educational problems and concerns. On the other hand, it is also a fact that certain forms of feminism that are seen to demand complete equality (as opposed to gender justice) for women and men, and that are seen as anti-religion, have, understandably, not attracted many self-identified Muslim women (as opposed to a few highly-educated women of Muslim background whose ‘Muslim-ness’ is simply cultural or incidental and of no particular consequence or importance).

The politics of the vast deserts and steppes of Central Asia will significantly determine the contours of any durable Afghan settlement. The implications for South Asia’s security will be far-reaching, too.

Ibn Battuta, the 14th-century traveller, described the Hindu Kush ranges as the “slayer of the Indians,” as people from the “land of India” mostly perished in the snowy heights of extreme cold. The ranges that run through Afghanistan did indeed split the Indian historical consciousness about that country.

When policymakers in New Delhi grappled with the Mujahideen takeover in Afghanistan, it suddenly dawned on them how little they knew about the tribes that inhabited the northern side of the Hindu Kush. It was those tribes who won the tight race for Kabul against the Pashtun Mujahideen groups during the dramatic “transfer of power” in 1992 by the communist regime headed by Najibullah, and New Delhi had on its hands the unenviable “post-Soviet” task of establishing a narrative suitable for a new dawn in the region’s ancient history.

The point is, the geopolitics of Afghanistan always had two halves. Which, of course, posed a major challenge to U.S. President Barack Obama when he crafted the new Afghan strategy. Equally, for regional powers like India or Uzbekistan, the dichotomy came in the way of creating a common space that would open the vistas of a regional initiative. Viewed from Delhi and Tashkent, the “great game” in the Hindu Kush mountains assumed different shades. Some things do not easily change in life — even for an aspiring regional power. Even today, Indian discourses on Afghanistan run a predictable course. Has the U.S. administration finally woken up to the harsh reality of the Pakistani military’s doublespeak in the fight against terrorism? If so, will it turn the screw on its single most crucial partner in the fight? Period.

THE ALMIGHTY WITHIN: Insights from neuropsychiatry about the God module in our brain

By Dr. Ennapadam S. Krishnamoorthy

Insights from neuropsychiatry about the god module in our brain…

Most dictionaries describe religion as “a way of life”. Religious beliefs, practices and experiences of individuals in our society, appear to have a strong cultural basis in their evolution and have been described as part of every ancient civilisation discovered and studied by modern man. On the face of it, therefore, it seems inconceivable that religious experiences may have biological basis in our brains.

Several questions remain unanswered in our quest to understand how religious experiences occur. Why are some people intense in their religious beliefs and practices and others considerably less enthusiastic? Or indeed, why do one's religious attitudes, beliefs and practices change during a life span, progressing sometimes: from atheism to agnosia to intense religiosity (or indeed in the converse direction)? Can socio-cultural factors alone have such influence on our lives, or are there more inherent biological determinants of these experiences and behaviours? Empirical observation suggests that a simple sociocultural explanation may be inadequate. There are for example considerable differences in religious attitudes and practices between siblings born of the same set of parents. The socio-cultural ethos in this situation is a virtual constant. Yet variations in the quality, frequency and intensity of religious experiences are observed and it's not uncommon to witness the entire spectrum, from intense religiosity to a strong atheistic tendency within the same family. While psychological experiences and social factors unique to each individual may have a significant role in determining these variations, they are often conjectures that arise from social and clinical observation.

Mogadishu - At least 47 people have been killed in central Somalia in fighting between Islamist rebels and a pro-government group for control of a strategic town, a human rights group and residents said on Sunday.

"Most of the casualties are from the two groups. The death toll might be double that as residents are still collecting bodies from alleys and under the trees. The whole region is tense and residents are fleeing from other towns."

A town resident agreed with Gedi's assessment:

"We have collected 77 dead bodies from inside and around Dusamareb town. We have reports that there are more dead bodies in the suburbs of the town. Yesterday afternoon's fighting was very fierce," local elder Hussein Aden told Reuters by phone.

Ahlu Sunna's spokesman said they had regained the town after losing it briefly to al Shabaab on Saturday.

"Our forces are in full control of the town now. We have chased them away from here yesterday. Their dead bodies packed the streets. We will surely pursue them in the other towns they went to," Sheikh Abdullahi Sheikh Abu Yusuf, told Reuters.

Another resident said the presence of Ahlu Sunna's fighters on the streets of the town was not wholly re-assuring.

"We are afraid al Shabaab will attack again here. We are civilians, our sole power is to flee," Abdullahi Bile said.

U.S. strategic defeat in Iraq, a discredited market model, China’s rise and Latin American freedom offer hope for the world.

Eight years on, we’re still caught in the shadow of the twin towers. As a rule, terrorism in its proper sense isn’t just morally indefensible — it also doesn’t work. In contrast to mass national resistance campaigns or guerrilla movements, the record of socially disconnected terror groups, from the Russian anarchists onwards, has been one of unmitigated failure. But the wildly miscalculated response of the United States government succeeded in turning the 9/11 atrocities into what may rank as the most successful terror attack in history.

It also triggered the first of four decisive changes which have ensured that the 21st century’s first decade has transformed the world — in some significant ways for the better. Osama Bin Laden’s initial demand was the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Saudi Arabia, which was carried out in short order. But it was George Bush’s war on terror that paradoxically delivered the greatest blow to U.S. authority and the world’s first truly global empire, in ways Al Qaeda could scarcely have dreamed of.

Not only did the lawless savagery of the U.S. campaign of killings, torture, kidnappings and incarceration without trial spawn terrorists across the Muslim world and beyond, while comprehensively disposing of western pretensions to be the global guardians of human rights. But the U.S.-British invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, in the latter case on a flagrantly false pretext, starkly exposed the limits of U.S. military power to impose its will on recalcitrant peoples prepared to fight back.

The recent attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound airline, which was part of a wider conspiracy orchestrated from Yemen, clearly shows that the Obama Administration now faces a two-front war against Al Qaeda: One in the AfPak region and the other in the Yemen-Saudi axis

According to the NEFA Foundation of the US, a non-Governmental organisation created following 9/11 to track Islamic terrorism, Al Qaeda's network in Yemen has issued an official communiqué claiming responsibility for the failed terrorist bomb plot targeting a Delta/Northwest airliner travelling from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas day. The communiqué included original photographs of would-be bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab grinning in front of an Al Qaeda banner. The group acknowledged that the device had failed to properly detonate, but promised that it would "continue on this path until we achieve success." The statement also congratulated Fort Hood shooter Major Nidal Malik Hasan and urged fellow Muslims to follow his footsteps and kill American soldiers.

According to the same foundation, Al Qaeda's network in Yemen has issued an official response to the airstrike earlier this week on a suspected Al Qaeda gathering in the region of Shabwah that reportedly killed up to 30 people, including a number of senior Al Qaeda operatives.

Roughly speaking, the political and social aspects of Islam in Pakistan can be seen as existing in and emerging from three distinct sets and clusters of thought. These clusters represent the three variations of political and social Islam that have evolved in this country: modern, popular and conservative.

The modern aspect of Islamic thought in Pakistan has its roots in the ‘Aligarh Movement’ – a nineteenth century effort launched by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan.

His analysis convinced him that the Muslims of India had failed to come to grips with the new zeitgeist emerging from the rise of western colonialism – a power driven by breakthroughs in modern scientific thought and economics, and pragmatic politics based on rational and dispassionate self-interest, all of which stemmed from the many doctrines and socio-political upheavals witnessed in the West during the ‘Age of Reason/Enlightenment.’

Ahmed strived to reinterpret the teachings of Islam so they could be brought in harmony with modern science and philosophy, helping the educated Muslims to continue holding on to their religion but through a rational and enlightened view of life.

Though accused of heresy by conservative Islamic scholars, Ahmed managed to lay the foundations of a modern college in Aligarh in an attempt to draw young Muslims away from the traditional madrassahs towards a place of learning where religious studies would be supplemented by the teaching of modern ‘secular subjects.’

For a few minutes on Sunday I wondered what would have happened if I was reading rather than listening to US President Barack Obama's statement from Hawaii. The US president took time off his Christmas vacation to speak about the incident that occurred on the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. Had I not heard his voice and seen his picture, I would have thought that the speaker was none other than former US president George W. Bush. What has happened to Obama in less than one year?

Unlike any of his previous speeches, Obama spoke totally out of script by using the word "terrorism" three times in a statement that lasted only a few minutes. Until this incident, Obama had preferred to use the word "radical" or "extremist" rather than much more emotionally loaded terrorists and terrorism.

What made the statement sound more like a Bush speech rather than an Obama one was the reference to the aim of the anti-American attackers. Obama had the following to say: "Those plotting against us seek not only to undermine our security, but also the open society and the values that we cherish as Americans."

Obama clearly capitulated to forces on the right who have repeatedly described any attack against the US because of its foreign policy as attacks against America's "open society" and American "values".

WASHINGTON: The apparent ties between the Nigerian man charged with plotting to blow up an airliner on Christmas Day and a radical American-born

Yemeni imam have cast a spotlight on a world of charismatic clerics who wield their internet celebrity to indoctrinate young Muslims with extremist ideology and recruit them for al-Qaida, American officials and counterterrorism specialists said.

American military and law enforcement authorities said the man accused in the bombing attempt, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, most likely had contacts with the cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, whom investigators have also named as having exchanged email messages with Maj Nidal Malik Hasan, an army psychiatrist charged with killing 13 people in a shooting rampage in November at Fort Hood, Texas.

Speaking in eloquent, often colloquial, English, Awlaki and other internet imams from the Middle East to Britain offer a televangelist’s persuasive message of faith, purpose and a way forward, for both the young and as yet uncommitted, as well as for the most devout worshipers ready to take the next step, to jihad.

“People across the spectrum of radicalism can gravitate to them, if they’re just dipping their toe in or they’re hard core,” said Jarret Brachman, author of “Global Jihadism: Theory and Practice”.

“Awlaki is, among other things, a talent spotter,” a US counterterrorism official said. “That’s part of his value to Qaida. If people are drawn to him, he can pass them along to trainers and operational planners.”

Sheikh Khalid bin Abdul Rahman al-Husainan of Kuwait mixes contemporary politics with talk of martyrdom. “Obama, in the same way that you raised the slogan, ‘Yes We Can,’ I too have a slogan,” Husainan wrote in August. “My slogan in this life is ‘Happiness is the day of my martyrdom.’”